Steam locomotive boiler



March 11, 1947. c A

STEAM LOCOMOTIVE BOILER Filegi Sept. 29, 1942* s SheetsS heet 1 INVENTOR: (/mriesllbmwe/Z ATTORNEYS.

March 11, 1947. c. D. BARRETT STEAM LOCOMO TIVE BOILER Filed Sept. 29, 1942 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTORNEYS.

March 11, 1947.

c.v D. BARRETT 2,417,343 STEAM LOCOMOTIVE BOILER Filed Sept. 29, 1942 M MW 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG; 5'.

ATTORNEYS.

March 11, 1947. c. D. BARRETT STEAM LOCOMOTIVE BOILER ,Filed Sept. 29, 1942 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 WITNESSES:

ATTORNEYS.

March 11, 1947.

C. D. BARRETT I STEAM LOCOMOTIVE BOILER s Sheefs-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 29, 1942 ATTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 11, 1947 2,41

UNITED STATE$ FATENT OFFECE 2,417,343 STEAM LOCOMOTIVE BOILER Charles I). Barrett, Altoona, Pa. Application September 29, 1942, Serial No. 460,074 12 Claims. (01. 1l0-61) This invention relates to improvements in tion of the fuel in locomotive boilers without steam locomotive boiler necessitating the use, either directly or indirectly,

inders through the exhaust nozzle and into the additional combustion-supporting air into the locomotive stack. The combustion rates are much firebox above the grate and thereby reduce the higher in locomotive boilers than in static-nary 1o amount of air concurrently drawn in from beneath thereon is Very high. As a result, the smaller when passing through the fuel bed is considerably unburned, or only partially consumed. The which therefore remain on the grate until oomamount of coal wasted in this way is negligible pletely consumed.

when the locomotive boiler is worked at its low Other objects and attendant advantages will est rate, but at the maximum rate when the appear from the following detailed description of velocity of the air for combustion is correspondthe accompanying drawings; wherein ingly high, the amount of fuel Wasted may be Fig. l is a more or less diagrammatic view in as much at 40% of the total fuel fired. It has side elevation, of a locomotive conveniently emlong been recognized that the ideal Way to burn bodying my invention.

coal in a locomotive boiler is to supply part of Fig. 2 is a fragmentary detail view looking as the air for combustion above the fuel bed, and indicated by the angled arrows I-II in Fi 1.

the combustion efliciency of the boiler by emcylinders of the locomotive. ploying power blowers or steam jet blowers to Fig. 3 is a fragment ry detail section taken as force part of the air into the firebox above the ic ted by the angled arrows III-III in grate In all of these attempts, however live is 4 1s a fiagmentary view showirg the rear steam fiom the locomotive boiler was used to acfirebox d f the IOCOmOtIVB b er 1n S 01 and therefore increase in the co b ti n effi- Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the boiler at ciency was obtained only at the expense of th the firebox end taken as indicated by the angled live steam output of the boiler. Other attempts 1 and 4- have been made to increase the combustion efli- 6 shows t r ar d f the b iler in lonciency of locomotives by allowing air to be drawn gitudinal Sectioninto the firebox under the influence of the vac- 7 a large al d il View in end elevaers or steam Jets such attempts, the quantity 1g 8 Sh ws the no z e of Fig 7 in axial secof air drawn in above the grate was relatively ion small, the air entering at such low velocity that Fig 91s a view like Fig 4 showing an alternative the mixing of such air and combustible gases was embodiment f my inventionnecessarily very poor. Consequently the increase l is a SS-S t I V ew of the boiler in the combustion efiiciency so obtained was not shown in Fig. 9 taken as indicated by the angled large enough to result in any measurable saving arrows X-X in the latter illustration; and

in fuel, although such arrangements have been Fig. 11 is a detail cross-sectional view taken advantageous in reducing the quantity of black 5 as indicated by the angled arrows XI-XI in smoke discharged from the stacks of the locomo Fig. 9.

tives. The locomotive illustrated in Figs. l t, for con- My invention is directed toward overcoming venience of exemplifying my invention in one the above drawbacks, that is to say, it has for form, is generally of well known construction its chief aim to insure more complete combushaving ahorizontalboiler l with afireboxZ at its rear end. As ordinarily, the firebox 2 is set apart within the boiler shell by a crown sheet 3, side sheets 4, a front sheet 6, rear (door) sheet 1 and a bottom sheet 8, the latter terminating short of said rear sheet to the grate l0. Disposed portion of the firebox is component fire rality of laterally spaced forwardly declining water tubes 12 which longitudinally of the boiler between the rear and front walls and between portions 13 and IA of the water jacket of the boiler. The firebox 2 is in communication with the stack H5 at the tive by way 0 tubes which are partially shown at It, in Fig. 6. At each side of its front end the locomotive has an engine cylinder 11 which is operated in a well known way by high-pressure steam, conducted under throttle control from the boiler l by suitable piping, not illustrated. The slid valve of the engine operates in an u, ward offset cylindric chest i8 integral with the cylinder, which latter has a passage l9 (Fig. 3) by way of which the waste or exhaust steam is conducted to the exhaust nozzle 28 (Fig. l) and then to the stack 45.

The means, with which the present invention is more especially concerned, for injecting part of the combustion-supporting air above the grate i0, is composed of parts which are duplicated at opposite 'des of the locomotive. As instanced in Figs. 1, 4 and 5, means includes a plurality of short tubes 21 which extend through the jacketed side wall of the firebox 2 and afford openings through which the air is inducted into said firebox. In the present embodiment there are eight such tubes at each side of the locomotive, disposed in the rear part of the firebox 2 below the plane The number 'of the tubes 2| may, of course, be varied in practice with the size and capacity of the firebox 2, and may below the arch i I, or nearer the box 2. The arrangement is such that the air is led laterally from opposite sides of the firebox 2 into the combustion gases as from the fuel bed on the grate iii and pass upwardly and forwardly around the rear edge of the arch l l. The air so introduced is thus thoroughly and intimately co-mingled with the gases as they pass over the top of I I and into the flue tubes i6. Preferably the corresponding tubes 2i at opposite sides of the firebox are offset slightly relative to each other rather than effective mixing attained. Mounted the interior of which a series spaced radial fins 23 converge outwardly to support a blast 4 of elbow configuration whereof the inwardly directed horizontal portion is co-axial with the tube 2i. As shown in Fig. 8, the nozzle unit just described is of composite construction with its component parts welded together and with the annulus 22 secured to the outer shell of the boiler also by welding as at 25. Set into the open end of the horizontal portion of the nozzle 24 is a removable plug 25 with plural jet apertures 21 which diverge toward the tube 2|. Extending along each side of the locomotive l is a conduit means in the form of a pipe main 28 having upward branches 29 which lead to the inlets of the nozzles 24, the forwardendof said the latter emanate placed in l front end of the locomof usual lengthwise extending fire pipe main being connected as shown in Figs. 1-3 into the passage l9 through which the exhaust steam flows from the valve chest l8 of the cylinder I! to the exhaust nozzle 20 and the stack Interposed in the pipe main 28 adjacent the nozzle branches 29 is a valve 30 which through suitable connections (not shown) can be controlled from the cab of the and adjacent its forward end is see Figs. 1 and 3. through the air tubes 2! from interfering with the vision of the engine man, a shield means is mounted over the air inlet units, said shield being provided with a hinged damper 33, which, like the valve 30, can be regulated from the cab of the locomotive by suitable connections (not shown).

From the foregoing it will the exhaust steam leaving the cylinders I1 is conducted by the pipe mains 28 to the nozzles 24 at opposite sides of the locomotive, and utilized to promote air of the firebox 2 above the fuel bed, The opposing air steams thus injected laterally into the combustion gas flow, as the latter passes upwardly and forwardly around the rear edge of the arch H as shown in Fig. 6, supplement the air drawn upwardly through the grat in under forced draft by the suction induced as the remaining portion of. the upwardly through the exhaust nozzle 20 and the stack 15. The air injected into the firebox 2 above the grate ill is used to burn the combustible gases which rise from the surface of the fuel bed with the result that sufiicient air for complete combustion of the fuel is assured. At the same time the quantity of air passing upw ardly through the fuel bed from beneath is greatly reduced so that the smaller fuel particles are not lifted-and carried. away unburned. The rate of combustion will obviously be seen that part of increase with increase in power, but a substantially constant ratio between the quantities of air entering tively from below and above maintained, 30 and of the dampers 33 are not disturbed. On the other hand, to change theproportionmg of the two air streams by adjusting the valves30 and/or the dampers 33, as occasion may require.

As an alternative, the steam for the nozzle groups at opposite sides of the locomotive may be supplied from but one of the engine cylinders 11, if this should be found more convenient ordesirable in practice. 1

In the modified embodiment shown in Figs. 9-11, 9. housing the air inlet tubes 2a; and connecting into the front end of said housing is a tapering wardly and forwardly at an inclination and has a horizontal end portion which terminates in a group of air inlets 22a whereof there are four in the present instance. Individually associated with the air inlets 22a are nozzles 24a which are generally like the nozzles 24 of the first described embodiment, and which receive exhaust steam through branch pipes 29a of amain 2811. from the cylinder (not shown) at the correspondingside of the locomotive. r It will be noted in this case there is a greater number of inlet tubes 21a of smaller diameter than in the first embodiment, with a few of them located above the plane of the arch Ha at each side of the firebox 2a. As a consequence; the air of my invention 32a extends over exhaust steam passes the firebox: 2 respecthegrate l0 will be provided the settings of the valves it IS possible for the engine man Zia at each side of the firebox,

trunk 34 which leads ,down

a amount of air admitted to the fire box by way buted in said of said openings.

tubes could, An auxiliary air supply system for a locohe component parts 1 of the air inlet openings to prevent glare from the jet nozzle may be emings extending through the opposite sides of the and said back gme of the locomotive and below the 10. The invention according to claim 8 in means for inwhich the air inlet openings at opposite sides '0 air from the of the fire box are staggered relative to each supply system according to 11. The invention according to claim 8, in air inlet openings of both which the fire box has an arch; and in which the upply system according to 40 passage between the rear edge of said arch and to injecting means include a group of nozzles for CHARLES D. BARRETT.

ng snjelds which are REFERENCES CITED the fire P The following references are of record in the groups of mlet file of this patent: g with the vision of UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date pply system for a locomo- 517,917 Delaney Apr. 10, 1894 t the rear and With 711,044 Fulton Oct. 14, 1902 short of the back 373,139 Hutchinson Nov. 15, 1887 y air supply system 742,363 Snoor Oct. 27, 1903 openings which eX- 658,432 Fleming Sept. 25, 1900 of the boiler into 449,827 Player Apr. 7, 1891 'cate into the pas- 759,061 Barrett et al. May 3, 1904 back wall at dif- 2, 77,676 Darling Apr. 20, 1937 means for inducing forced 736,857 Marlow Aug. 18, 1903 terior through 28 ,7 4: Bonta Oct. 30, 1883 Shields Spaced 183,014 Merryweather et a1. Oct. 10, 1876 providing air 1,014,387 Gofi Jan. 9, 1912 the openings 1,140,732 t May 25, 1915 roups of said 2 Lickley Aug. 6, 1918 from the in- 1. 4. Peterson July 27, 1926 atable means FOREIGN PATENTS ds and ada'pt- Number Country Date ontrolling the 11,016 British July 29, 1915 

